Thirty-six teams of Sea Scouts converge on Long Beach, June 22-28, to compete against each other in the biennial William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup. Scouts from Brazil, England, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States qualified for the event.

(Teddy Carter, Sarah Wyman, Laura Roudebush, Ben Brough)

Sea Scouts Ben Brough and Laura Roudebush, of Sea Scout Ship 90, of Newport Beach, hail from the defending 2012 champion ship, and look to continue a strong tradition of sailing excellence from scouts based out of the Newport Sea Base. Sea Scouts from Ship 711, of Newport Beach, including the new director of the Newport Sea Base, Tom Hartmann, won the 2002, 2004, and 2006 Koch Cups. Ben and Laura also are summer sailing instructors at the Sea Base.

In addition, four other teams from Orange County qualified in regional competitions for the Koch Cup. David Cornella and Liz Fletcher, from Ship 936, in Dana Point, and who took 6th place at the 2012 Koch Cup (and winners of the 2012 Sportsmanship Trophy), appear poised to take a run at the prized trophy. Two other teams from Ship 936 also qualified, comprised of Sarah Wyman and Teddy Carter, and Sofia Maranto and Flora van der Schoot. Rounding out the Orange County contingent are Christian Redman and Danielle Brodeur, from Newport- based Ships 90 and 1767, respectively (and both also teach sailing at the Newport Sea Base).

The Koch has previously been held at venues such as Chicago, Cape Cod, Miami, the US Naval Academy, the US Coast Guard Academy, and most recently at the California Maritime Academy. Long Beach Yacht Club and Long Beach Council, BSA will host this event, in conjunction with National BSA and the William I. Koch Cup Association. Sea Scouting in the United States is a branch of the Boy Scouts of America and has been around for 102-years. It is a co-educational program for youth 14-20 years old and gives the Scouting program of youth leadership and character development an aquatic emphasis.

For those able to come out and view the action, there are two venues that will be used. On Wednesday and Friday, sailing will be inside Alamitos Bay. The best viewing is on the beach near Alamitos Bay YC – there is a public parking lot right across the street. On Tuesday and Thursday, we will race off of Belmont Pier. There is a public parking lot adjacent to the base of the pier, and great viewing from the end of the pier.